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ChitownJen · Dec 19, 2005, 10:17 AM

I got my boyfriend an ipod mini as a gift. He set it up initially on a mac laptop. Now he has a pc laptop (he switched jobs, and always has whatever is the standard for that office, and we don't have a home computer.) He told me that he called apple tech support and was informed that if he initially set up the ipod mini on a mac, he cannot switch to his pc due to the way the device is now formatted. Is this true? If so, it seems very limiting. I am hoping he heard wrong.

ChitownJen · Dec 19, 2005, 10:23 AM

...obviously I am new. If this question is already asked to death, please just point me in the right direction. Thank you.

ism · Dec 19, 2005, 10:31 AM

I would have thought you'd just have to reformat it using the ipod software:

http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/

Or perhaps reformat it using Windows and then do the ipod software. Either way you will be able to get it working on windows.

icruise · Dec 19, 2005, 10:53 AM

Unless there's something special about the mini (and I don't think there is) you just install iTunes and the iPod software on the PC and plug in the iPod. It should walk you through the initialization process.

ChitownJen · Dec 19, 2005, 11:07 AM

Thanks for the help thus far. We are going to try again tonight.

However, I am wondering: Will he lose anything that is currently on the ipod? He has it 2/3 full of songs, and wasn't able to back up elsewhere prior to returning the company's laptop.

IFLY2HIGH · Dec 19, 2005, 11:19 AM

Yes you will lose everything on the iPod, and I myself can't point you to the software but I'm sure there are ways of pulling off the existing songs to be later reinstalled.

ChitownJen · Dec 19, 2005, 01:22 PM

First, thank you.

I did a search of the forum, and a google search to find some shareware or software to purchase in order to copy the music library to our new pc laptop (as a reminder the ipod mini was used on a mac we no longer have access to, and we are migrating to a pc).

I found some hits, some potentials, but in doing so I also dug up a few reviews warning that this or that app might delete the library, and so now I am not sure what to use.

One summary that I found on ipod music extrator apps in about.com, located here:

http://macs.about.com/od/ipod/a/copy_from_ipod.htm

But, has anyone used any of these? Specific suggestions?

icruise · Dec 19, 2005, 02:36 PM

I'm not sure that you can extract the music when going from Mac to PC, because the Mac uses a different disk format than the PC. It might be best to see if you could borrow a Mac just long enough to copy the music off of the iPod and onto some CD-Rs or something. The other option might be to get a program that allows the PC to read Mac formatted disks, but I don't know if that will work or not.

jaydon34 · Dec 19, 2005, 03:15 PM

The ipod can be used with a windows machine. I used a shareware program which I forgot the name which allows you to read a mac formatted drive in windows xp. Then I used a free utility found on the net to extract the music to my windows box. Then from there I used the ipod restoration software to format the ipod for windows. Then I added the music from the ipod to my itunes library and auto-synced it. There you have it ... ipod formatted for windows and your music saved. And no just incase anyones wondering I didnt switch to a pc my ibook went it for service and I needed to update my ipod. Now its formatted for a mac again.

ChitownJen · Dec 19, 2005, 06:02 PM

Thank you very much jaydon34, and I think I have a plan now.

In the meantime, I got an email from a software company that has a product called CopyPod, which must be purchased. I asked if their product would help and described my problem. This is what they said:

Yes, CopyPod will do that.
If your iPod is PC formatted, you'll just need to follow this procedure http://www.copypod.net/helpv7.php#16
If it's Mac formatted, just download MacOpener (another product that must be purchased) http://www.dataviz.com/products/macopener and make sure you run it before CopyPod. Then, follow the procedure above.

This is very similar to the first half of jaydon34's advice, and so now I am going to look for some good shareware...

ghporter · Dec 19, 2005, 08:14 PM

Before trying to use any iPod on a PC, you must install the driver that comes with the iTunes disc. You can also download it from Apple if you don't have an iTunes disc handy. It is what lets the PC "see" the iPod as something other than just some USB hard drive. iTunes can't do anything with the iPod until the driver has been installed.